Herod Missed The First Christmas Series

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION TO MISSING CHRISTMAS

James Montgomery Boice was the pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1968 until his death in 2000. He also was on the Bible Study Hour on radio for about 30 years. And in his spare time, he wrote a considerable number of books. One of the books that he wrote was “The Christ of Christmas”. In that book Boice writes “one tragedy of the first Christmas is that so many came close to Christmas yet missed it all”.

And that statement by Boise gave birth to my sermon series “They Missed the First Christmas”. And last week, we looked at the innkeeper who was too busy doing life which included earning a living that he had no time for Christmas. And then we looked at the innkeeper’s guests who were so focused on their own little world that they didn’t try to accommodate the pregnant young girl in their room. And so, they too missed the First Christmas.

And ever since the missed opportunities of that first Christmas, we have been missing opportunities to celebrate the birth of Christ ever since. We have made the celebration of Christ’s birth into so many holiday traditions, eating feasts, shopping hype, and social gatherings that many miss the real Christmas. Immanuel- Christ with us! So, we have gone back to that first century to see what caused them to miss the first Christmas in the hope that we can learn from their mistakes.

Today, we look at King Herod and why he missed the First Christmas. If you have your Bibles turn with me to Matthew 2:1-8.

2 SCRIPTURE

QUOTE

Matthew 2:1-8 (NKJV)

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ “

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

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3 One

I WANT US TO THINK HOW HARD IT WAS FOR HEROD TO MISS THE FIRST CHRISTMAS; BUT HE STILL DID.

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

How could Herod have missed the First Christmas? Afterall, he had wise men from the East who basically invited him to the event when they asked him “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews”?

Herod could not use the argument Israel is a big place, I don’t have the time to travel all over Israel looking for this Christ child, you call the King of the Jews. Herod called in the religious leaders, and they pinpointed exactly where Jesus could be found. He could go right to Christ child; he did not have to be inconvenienced by searching high and low for this child. And I am afraid in our day and time, people don’t want to be inconvenienced. We tell ourselves I got cooking to do, the kids got presents to open, I got to clean up around the house because soon family and friends will be arriving for the holiday feast. God just does not fit into the schedule, and those who think that way miss Christmas because they don’t want to be inconvenienced.

Herod could not use the argument that it is too far to travel from Jerusalem to Bethlehem because it is only a distance of 5.52 miles. He called for the religious leaders to tell him where this Savior is to be born, and they came back with Bethlehem of Judea. Just 5.52 miles from his palace in Jerusalem. But think about where we live in Pike County MS, we have twenty-nine (29) Southern Baptist Church in our county. Probably nobody is more than five (5) miles away from a church yet on Christmas morning, many won’t travel those five (5) miles to a church to celebrate the birth of Christ with other Christians. Why Herod personally didn’t travel the 5.52 miles to see this child, I don’t know. But I don’t know why most people in Pike County don’t travel less than five (5) miles to worship Christ the King on Christmas day.